Adison's Baptism - July 27th

Adison was baptised the day before Mom and Dad left so that they could be here for the baptism and also so we could have a big get together afterwards and they could see all the family and meet some more of our friends.

I just did a really simple cake so that I wouldn't get stressed out about it and luckily it tasted good too! Adison wore Mom's grandfather's christening robe that Mom, Nicolas and I all wore.
We just got food from Sam's Club so I wouldn't have to cook and it tasted great, so we will definately do that again.

We had a great mix of family and friends and luckily it wasn't too hot to sit outside. As usual I didn't feel like I got to see everyone, but most of our friends and family know each other pretty well by now so they all get along fine.

My friend Caroline brought her little girl Berkeley who was born the week after Adison. We had a picture of our bumps at my shower, so now we have a picture with our babies!

The house was filled with babies and children of all ages which was lovely. It made me realize how lucky I am to have such great family and friends who all have children for Nicolas and Adison to grow up with. It makes not having Nicole and William her and all my friends in Englands children a little bit easier.

Lilli was looking after Nicolas as he gets a bit overwhelmed sometimes by big parties at the house.

It all got a bit too much for Adison and she fell asleep on Stephanie and then slept like a little fairy in her crib afterwards.
Nicolas also seemed relieved when everyone left and his house was quite and peaceful again.
It was a wonderful day and totally stress free for me, which was our goal.

Nicolas at 19 Month - A Big Brother

Adjusting to Adison and all the changes she has brought with her has been hard for Nicolas. He doesn't seem to mind her, and is very sweet and gentle when he touches her, but we have had so many people in and out of the house to see her, bring food and then the kids were here with Mom and Dad and then they all left and it's just me and Nicolas and Adison now. He adjusted well to start with but in the last week he has been so much more demanding.

He knows all the naughty things he shouldn't do, so when I'm nursing or not giving him enough attention, he will go and do something he shouldn't do. He is also very clingy when people arrive at the house but soon calms down and reverts to being his happy go lucky little self. I now plan something for us to do every morning so that he is kept busy and I've just signed him up for a toddler gymnastics class as he climbs and hangs on everything. He can do a forwards roll with minimal assistance so I felt I should channel his skills and not just stop him from climbing.

He understands everything I say to him but still doesn't speak other than "Deee!". I've posted the movies below because a bird had flown into the deck door about 4pm and stunned itself. He loves birds and shows them to me all the time at the park, so he knew it was a bird. I had to close the curtains because I hate birds and seeing it sitting there freaked me out. When it died Nicolas knew something was wrong and as soon as Adam came home, Nicolas took him to the door to show him the bird. He was very upset when the bird was gone. The "deeee" sound is his all purpose word. "Mior" is another new favorite. He is pretty good at animal sounds, but being a lion is his favorite because I have to pretent to be scared, which he loves.

Having Adison has made me love Nicolas so much more because he's so rough and tumble and nothing seems to bother him, but deep down I can see that his little world is very confused. I'm giving him as much care and attention as I can and time just with him and me, but it's hard. I don't know what I would do if Adison wasn't so content. I know in a few months he will be easier to control and understand more and he will have got used to all the changes.

A day in the life of Adison - 4 weeks old

Inspite of the fact I've not posted anything for weeks, Adison is an angel and amazes me everyday with how consistant she is with her routine and how content she is. I said to Adam last night that apart from waking me up for maybe 20-30 minutes a night, she does nothing that makes my life any harder, she only makes it happier and more fulfilled. As we haven't tried her with a bottle yet, all Adam has had to do is hold her and love her, which makes her his easiest child so far.

She wakes between 6am and 6:30am and nurses before I get Nicolas up. She comes in his room and sits in his chair while I change him and get him dressed and then I dress her. She sits in her chair while Nicolas and I have breakfast and then I nurse her again if she is still hungry. After that we get loaded up in the truck and go to the park before it gets too hot.We are normally there by 8am and I've now got a system for loading and unloading the truck when we go somewhere. It follows ability to run away! Adison can't go anywhere so she gets out first and is the last to go back in the truck. Nicolas goes next because he won't run far but he may get in the way of a car! Leo gets out last and gets back in first because if I let him, he'd be off as fast as he could down to the dog park!!We walk 1.5 miles which takes about 30 minutes and by then it's about 25 degrees and my hips still hurt. I will work back up to doing 3-4 miles when it gets cooler and I'm fully recovered from Adison. Then we go home and either play at home with Nicolas, friends come over or we run errands. Adison will stay awake until about 11:30am - amazing that a 4 week old will stay awake so long. She cat naps for 5-10 minutes during that time but doesn't sleep properly. She goes down for her nap and then I feed Nicolas and put him to bed at about 12:30pm.

Then I get to catch up on housework and phone calls and write thank you cards. We have been given so many things for Adison and people have been so kind. We had at least 15 meals cooked for us, so I want to be able to thank people properly. Dealing with insurance companies and the hospital has been an nightmare with Adam changing jobs so soon before Adison's birth, but I think it has all been sorted out now. Emails and the blog have suffered as a result but I'm almost caught up with everything.

Adison wakes up for a feed at about 1:30pm and then goes back to sleep and Nicolas gets up at 2pm. He has a snack and some time alone with me, and then Adison wakes up about 3pm. We usually just play in the house in the afternoon as it's too hot outside for her. You will see she is just in a diaper in most of her photos as we don't run the AC during the day to it gets up to about 28 degrees in the house. It's way too hot outside for her in the afternoons so it limits us on what we can do. I know it will be cooler in a month or so and we can be outside.

She will have 'tummy time' while Nicolas and I play or sit in her seat. She loves sitting on the kids bean bags when we play in their rooms as she's supported and upright, but it's soft. If she gets bored or needs attention she will whine a bit and then I hold her, but she is just content to watch us play.

The only time it gets a bit difficult is if she wants to nurse about 4:30pm when I'm trying to get dinner ready for Nicolas, but I just block out the noise of them both crying and do what I have to do. It's only for a few minutes. What is cute is that if she cries, Nicolas will go to her and lay his head next to her or pat her tummy. It obviously upsets him too, so luckily we only have maybe 10 minutes a day of crying.

After Nicolas is fed we have more play time until about 6-6:15pm when it's bath time. She loves her bath and never cries. Nicolas was about 2 month old before he stopped crying in the bath. Adison gets bathed first while Nicolas sits in her chair in the bathroom or plays with his bath toys. People keep telling me I need to give him a job to do to make him feel involved with Adison, but he's just too little. He seems happy to watch whatever I do with her and carry on doing his thing. Once I get her out of the bath I put him straight in while I dry her and give her a massage. If she wants to nurse I'll do that while I watch him play, but most of the time she is happy to sit in her seat and watch the lights in the bathroom while I finish bathing Nicolas.

Adam has been home every night before the end of bath time since Adison was born so he can help me, but I know that won't last. Last night was the first time I had to put Nicolas to bed with Adison.because he was working later. She sat in her seat in his room and he sat on my knee for stories and milk as usual. He kept looking at her strangely, but he just accepts that she is now here all the time. I turned out the light and we said prayers and then I put him down and he was fine. Then I let her fall asleep for an hour and then got her up until about 9:30pm when she went down for the night and I went to bed too.

She wakes up at about 1am for a 10 minute feed and then at 5am for another quick feed. If I let her, she would stay awake after the 5am feed, but I keep the lights off and re-swaddle her and put her back down. After the 5am feed is the only time she gets a pacifier at night, and that is for my sake, to keep her quiet, more than it is for her's. Then she's up at about 6:30am to start the day again.

Sometimes I look at Adison and think she's cute but other times I just think she's funny looking. When she's having her bath she looks like a little frog because her belly sticks out at the sides and her arms and legs are so thin. She still looks like Adam and Kirsten around the mouth, but I have no idea who the rest of her looks like. In the photo above she has her mouth pursed so it looks like she has almost no lips, or like she has smoked for years and got a 'cat bum' mouth!! Sometimes she just looks like a little alien, but she's our little alien and we love her!

I'm pretty tired, but nothing like I was with Nicolas. She still nurses like a dream and I'm going to try her on a bottle in the next week just to give us the flexibility to leave her with someone if we need to. I am hungry 24 hours a day and all I want is carbs and sweet things. I'm drinking gallons of green tea for energy and to make me less hungry, but it doesn't work too well! Having expected a bad baby because Nicolas was so good, I've discovered that Nicolas was actually quite a demanding baby, especially at night. Adison really is an angel baby and Nicolas just tried his hardest to be one!

Mom and Dad's Visit

We had a wonderful three weeks with Mom and Dad. Thanks to Adison's impecable timing we maximized the time with them. Their first week went by in a whirl of doctor and hospital visits until Adison's jaundice went away and she regained her birth weight. While I was at the hospital Mom and Dad would take Jaden, Kirsten and Nicolas to the park and walk Leo. They have promised that they will never come back in summer again as it's just too hot for them, even in the morning. They would both come back from the park dripping in sweat and have to get in the pool to cool off. I have to say that when I take Nicolas and Adison to the park in the morning is miserably hot - my hardcore get fit regime will just have to wait a few weeks!

Nicolas loved all the extra attention he got from Mom and Dad and all the little games Dad would play with him. Nicolas is at such a lovely age now where he understands when you are teasing him and he can role play. I've been having 'tea parties' with him and his teddy bears this week and now he tries to feed me with whatever he has in his hand. It still amazes me that he understands everything I say and will do whatever I ask him, if it suits him.

Shelley and Jamie sent Nicolas his first pair of speedo type shorts. He looks so cute with his little legs showing as I'm so used to seeing him in long American style shorts. Nicolas' new pose for photos is with his head to the side which looks quite cute and I'm not sure where he learnt it.

Adam spent ages in the pool with Nicolas throwing something in for him to throw back. His throwing is really improving, 9 times out of 10 he will throw a ball inf ront of him, where as until recently he would drop it behind him by mistake.
I'm always looking for things to keep Nicolas busy that require minimal supervision from me and Mom suggested washing up with him. I used to do this with Jaden and Kirsten when they were little, but I'd forgotten all about it. I fill the sink up with warm soapy water, give him some bowls and spoons and he'll stand there for about 30 minutes and play. The floor gets a bit wet but he loves it and my chairs have waterproof covers, so no harm is done.
Mom and I took Adison and Nicolas on their first outing together and Kirsten came too. We had to get Nicolas some new shoes and as a treat Mom got them rides on the train. Kirsten wanted to ride up front and ring the bell so Nicolas and I rode in the carriage behind. They both loved it. It was great having Mom with me the first time I took them all out because Adison screamed to start with so I could hold her while Mom pushed Nicolas and made sure Kirsten was OK. That was a couple of weeks ago and now Adison has a routine, it's pretty easy to take her out between 9am and 11am as she is fed and quite happy to sit in her car seat and look around.

Kirsten loved having Mom and Dad here because they are always willing to talk or draw or paint with her, and enter into her imaginary games. Recently I've just had no time or energy to do that, so she loved being the center of attention. The dress below was one of the first things I ever bought for her when she was 2 years old and now at nearly 7, it still fits her!!
She spent a lot of the summer on her roller blades, mostly in the house, but as she didn't break anything and was very careful we didn't mind. I loved her inventive choice of outfit and accessories!
Jaden still doesn't like having his photo taken so he wouldn't pose for these photos.
For the first two weeks of Adison's life we couldn't all go somewhere as oor truck only seats 6 and there were 7 of us without Adam. We took it in turns to go places and usually the kids were happy staying at home playing in the pool with their friends. Mom and I spent a lot of time at Joann's buying material for Adison to make dresses. We also had a trip to Pike Nurseries to buy a plant in honor of Adison's birth and some others that were on sale. Unfortunately for Dad, that involved him digging a huge hole in the rock hard Georgia dirt for me. It took him about an hour in the morning heat, but it would have taken me at least three hours!
Once Jaden and Kirsten went back to their Mom's we could go somewhere everyday. One of our trips was to Toys R Us where Nicolas was totallly spoilt. He's now the proud owner of an easel, building blocks, a play phone (so hopefully he won't delete numbers out of our home phone!) and play keys. All of which keep him busy for ages which helps me out, and improve his motor skills.

His new nickname is "Picasso Pickles" for all the artwork he creates. He's only drawn on the couch once by accident, but luckily it's IKEA and the cover is washable.

Thanks to having Mom and Dad with me Nicolas' bath and bedtime routine could stay the same. Last night was the first time I had to bath them both and put them both to bed without someone else taking one while I put the other one down. It worked pretty well as Nicolas is getting used to Adison.
I was so sad to see Mom and Dad go as we had such a good time, inspite of the heat! Mom and I were frustrated as we really wanted to get in the garden and work on all the projects we have planned, but Dad was glad because it meant he didn't have to do all the digging for our projects! Mom did a lot of knitting and we just spent time talking and relaxing.

I cried when I left them at the airport but carrying Nicolas while pushing Adison made me realize that my family here is perfect and I couldn't ask for better children or a more wonderful husband, and that makes it not having Mom and Dad here more bareable.

Adison's First Week

I was worried that after Nicolas being such a good baby Adison would be a nightmare as payback, but she is even better than he was!! (I know there is plenty of time for that to change!!) 5 minutes after she was born she was drinking like a dream from me and that has continued. I never realized how hard it was to feed Nicolas because I didn't know anything else, but with hindsight it was very time consuming and stressful. Adison will even nurse in the dark and latches on first time and drinks until she's done. She doesn't even need burping! She will sleep for 2 1/2 to 3 hour stretches at night and then nurses for 30 mins and goes straight back to sleep, which is wonderful. I can quite happily survive on 6 hours sleep a night with 2 breaks, with the aid of a big glass of coke to get me going in the morning.

Unfortunately when we left the hospital she was slightly jaundiced, so as with Nicolas, we have been making daily visits to the hospital for her to have blood tests. Also her weight went down to 6lbs 13ozso we have made 3 trips to the Pediatricians to have her weighed. The jaundice has gone and she's 7lbs 10oz today, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I don't have to be at the hospital or doctor's by 8am. I couldn't have done it without Mom and Dad as I get Nicolas up and then Dad feeds him and they walk all the children and Leo to the park to get rid of some of their energy while I take Adison to the doctor's.

I've felt so amazingly lucky all week to have such a wonderful family and such an amazing baby, but I still had 20 minutes of irrational crying on Sunday when I did too much and didn't have any breakfast and got over tired and overwhelmed by feeding everyone! That quickly passed and we have got into a really good routine. I'm just glad I froze so much food before she was born and created a meal plan because preparing food and snacks for 8 has been a challenge at times. Mom has been great and cleans while Dad looks after Nicolas and Leo, so it all balances out. My Mom's groups have arranged meals for me which started yesterday, so I can relax for a couple of weeks now and not have to cook dinner.

Jaden and Kirsten have been wonderful. Kirsten is so in love with Adison and all she wants to do is hold her. Unfortunately she wants to treat her like a baby doll and won't just sit still and hold her, so I have to sit next to her, or else Adison ends up contorted in Kirsten's lap! Jaden keeps saying "she's really cute" but doesn't want to hold her. They just accept that Adison has to be fed first and then Nicolas, and then they get fed because they are old enough to understand. So far they've been fed lunch by 12 everyday, except today when Nicolas needed his nap just when Adison needed to be fed and it got a bit chaotic with two crying babies!

We are kind of housebound until Jaden and Kirsten go back to Lisa this weekend because the truck only seats 6 and there are now seven of us (when Adam is at work). Mom and I went off yesterday with Adison to look for materials to make her dresses and then Mom and Dad took the truck today and went shopping. I'm trying to put weight on Adison because she only has 4 outfits that fit her, all the rest are too big! It seems crazy to buy stuff for her when she will outgrow it in a week or two.

She is such a sweet baby and I'm so happy she's here. It's great to have my energy back but now my hips are so stiff as the ligaments presumably tighten up again. Other than that I have to adverse effects from the birth which is wonderful. Nicolas is adjusting well to Adison and he gets most of the attention so he doesn't feel jealous. Adison gets fed and put in her little chair when he's awake and I spend my quality time with her when he's napping or before he gets up in the morning or when he's in bed. I'm trying to get her on Nicolas' schedule, with a couple of extra naps. She will stay awake for up to 3 hours in the morning and then another 2 or 3 in the evening which suprised me. I need to be more disciplined about keeping her awake during the day, but as she sleeps so well at night there doesn't seem too much need at the moment. I just hope it continues.